I took the King of Serendib's letter, and went to present myself at
the gate of the Commander of the Faithful, followed by the
beautiful slave and such of my own family as carried the presents.
I gave an account of the reason of my coming, and was immediately
conducted to the throne of the caliph. I made my reverence, and
after a short speech gave him the letter and present. When he had
read what the King of Serendib wrote to him, he asked me if that
prince were really so rich and potent as he had said in this
letter. I prostrated myself a second time, and rising again,
'Commander of the Faithful,' said I, 'I can assure your majesty he
doth not exceed the truth on that head: I am witness of it. There
is nothing more capable of raising a man's admiration than the
magnificence of his palace. When the prince appears in public, he
has a throne fixed on the back of an elephant, and marches betwixt
two ranks of his ministers, favourites, and other people of his
court; before him, upon the same elephant, an officer carries a
golden lance in his hand, and behind the throne there is another,
who stands upright with a column of gold, on the top of which there
is an emerald half a foot long and an inch thick; before him march
a guard of a thousand men, clad in cloth of gold and silk, and
mounted on elephants richly caparisoned.
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